Andrew Warshaw: When closure opens a new can of worms
It was supposed to be all about closure for FIFA. Done and dusted. No more subterfuge. No more finger pointing. Time to move on. After all, there’s a presidential election next year.
Chelsea deliver £18m profit and sets sights on new sponsor cash
November 14 – Chelsea FC have announced a profit of £18.4 million on a record turnover of £319.8 million for the year ended 30 June 2014. This is the econd and largest profit the largest profit the club has made since Roman Abramovich became owner of the club in 2003. Two years ago the profit was £1.4 million.
Match’s Whelan in UK but will return to Brazil for court dates
By Paul Nicholson
November 14 – Ray Whelan, the British director of FIFA’s World Cup marketing affiliate Match who was arrested at the World Cup in July, has in the last few days returned to the UK. Whelan was bailed in August from Brazil’s notorious Bangu prison but has only just received his passport.
Closure or calamity? Reactions to the Eckert bidding report summary
By Andrew Warshaw
November 14 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers insist they were right to be exonerated from any corruption allegations as reaction continues to pour in, most of it negative, following the controversial summary of Michael Garcia’s report into the entire bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
AFC makes Vienamese match-fixing bans regional
November 14 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has extended the domestic ban on six Vietnamese players from Dong Nai FC to confederation level for their role in the country’s match-fixing scandal.
South Africa opens probe into tenders for 2010 construction contracts
November 14 – More than four years after staging the 2010 World Cup, several of South Africa’s top construction firms have been accused of colluding over tenders in the run-up to the tournament.
Garcia re-ignites ethics debate after claim he will appeal Eckert summary
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – If FIFA had hoped that today’s publication of the summary of Michael Garcia’s report into possible corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process would bring some closure, the whole investigation was immediately plunged back into confusion and intrigue when Garcia himself incredibly claimed his evidence had been misrepresented and that he was not happy with the findings.
Racism row over Roma team in Czech Republic
By Mark Baber
November 13 – The issue of a Roma football club based in Decin in the Czech Republic, whom five league opponents have refused to play, has highlighted the racism and discrimination faced by the Roma communities in Eastern Europe and illustrates the obstacles football administrators need to overcome to ensure equal access and opportunities for all.
Jordan signs up for two years of Soccerex conference
November 13 – The Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), one of whose main goals is to use football as a tool for social change and improvement across the region, has agreed to host the Soccerex Asian Forum in Jordan for another two years.
FC Zurich head straight to legal after ‘intentional’ stamp puts player out
November 13 – A Swiss top-flight team have initiated legal proceedings after one of its players suffered a serious injury following a horror tackle by an opponent last weekend.
Hayatou insists AFCON show must go on, without Morocco
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – African football chief Issa Hayatou says acceding to Morocco’s request to postpone the Africa Cup of Nations would have been “to sign our death warrant” as yet another country added to the crisis by saying it couldn’t afford to step in and stage the event.
Qatar says new labour laws coming, but Amnesty says not fast enough
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – Qatar is failing to make fast enough progress in dealing with the ill-treatment of migrant workers, Amnesty International has warned in a fresh report. Six months after the 2022 World Cup hosts laid down plans for major reforms, Amnesty says few concrete steps have been taken.
FIFA and its president prove to be Garcia-report ‘winners’
By Paul Nicholson
November 13 – Perhaps the real winner of the report on the inquiry into the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup bidding process is FIFA itself and its president Sepp Blatter, who will be standing for a fifth term as president next year.
Garcia report closed, but expect casualties and reformed process to come
By Paul Nicholson
November 13 – While the inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process clears all the bidders of any wrongdoing that affected the outcome of the December 2012 vote, it is likely that there will be individual casualties as a result of the investigation.
Garcia report: Russia and Qatar cleared, 2018 and 2022 votes not compromised
By Paul Nicholson
November 13 – The 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be played in Russia and Qatar, as originally voted for by FIFA’s executive committee on December 2, 2010. The inquiry into the FIFA World Cup Bidding process has found no smoking guns, no bags of cash under tables or even in safety deposit boxes, and no evidence of root and branch corruption that would warrant removal of the biggest event in world sport from the current mandated host countries.